Every week, women from Varanasi, Ghazipur, Mau, Azamgarh, Ballia, and other parts of Purvanchal come to me with bleeding that “won’t stop,” pain that’s been dismissed for months as a “women’s problem,” or reports that already say the word every patient dreads. In almost every one of these conversations, the same question comes up eventually: could this have been caught earlier? For cervical cancer, the honest answer is almost always yes.

Cervical cancer is one of the very few cancers we know how to prevent, not just treat. We have a test that can catch it years before it becomes cancer, and a vaccine that can stop it from ever starting. And yet, across Purvanchal, it remains one of the most common cancers in women — largely because screening simply isn’t part of routine healthcare here the way it should be. This blog is about closing that gap, one informed reader at a time.

Why Cervical Cancer Deserves Special Attention in Eastern UP

Cervical cancer is caused almost entirely by persistent infection with certain strains of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a very common virus spread through sexual contact. In most women, the body clears the infection on its own. In a small percentage, it lingers for years, slowly changing the cells of the cervix until they become cancerous.

What makes the Purvanchal region particularly vulnerable is a combination of factors: limited awareness about HPV and screening, hesitation around gynaecological examinations, poor access to regular Pap smear or HPV testing in smaller towns and villages, and low uptake of the HPV vaccine. The result is a pattern I see far too often in my practice — women presenting only after symptoms like abnormal bleeding have already appeared, by which point the disease has frequently progressed well beyond its earliest, most treatable stage.

Who Is at Higher Risk?

While any woman who has ever been sexually active carries some risk, certain factors increase it further:

• Never having had a Pap smear or HPV test, or not testing regularly
• Early age at first pregnancy or multiple pregnancies
• Long-term use of oral contraceptive pills
• Smoking or tobacco use
• A weakened immune system, including HIV infection
• Multiple sexual partners, or a partner with multiple partners
• Not having received the HPV vaccine

None of these mean cancer is inevitable — they simply mean regular screening matters more, not less.

Symptoms That Should Bring You to a Doctor, Not a Home Remedy

Early cervical cancer, and the pre-cancerous changes that come before it, often cause no symptoms at all — which is exactly why screening (rather than waiting for symptoms) is so important. As the disease progresses, though, certain warning signs appear:

• Bleeding between periods, after menopause, or after intercourse
• Unusually heavy or prolonged periods
• Watery, foul-smelling, or blood-stained vaginal discharge
• Pelvic pain, or pain during intercourse
• In more advanced cases, leg swelling, back pain, or difficulty passing urine

In many households across Purvanchal, irregular bleeding is quietly tolerated for months — attributed to “weakness,” age, or stress — before a doctor is consulted. If you or a woman in your family has had unexplained bleeding for more than a couple of weeks, that’s not something to wait out.

Screening: The Single Most Powerful Tool We Have

This is worth repeating: cervical cancer is largely preventable. The Pap smear, a simple test done during a routine gynaecological visit, can detect abnormal cervical cells years before they turn cancerous, at a stage when treatment is minor and highly effective. HPV DNA testing, increasingly available and recommended alongside or instead of the Pap smear, identifies the viral infection itself, often even earlier.

Guidelines generally recommend that women begin screening around age 21 to 25 and continue at regular intervals (typically every 3 to 5 years depending on the test used and local guidelines) until at least age 65. Yet in my experience across Varanasi and the surrounding districts, a large proportion of women who walk into my clinic have never had a single screening test in their lives. Changing that one statistic would prevent more cervical cancer than any treatment I can offer after diagnosis.

The HPV vaccine, given ideally to girls between 9 and 14 years of age (before likely exposure to the virus), adds another powerful layer of prevention and is now increasingly available in India.

Diagnosis: What Happens After a Positive Screen or Suspicious Symptom

If a Pap smear or HPV test comes back abnormal, or if symptoms raise suspicion, the next step is usually a colposcopy — a magnified examination of the cervix — along with a biopsy to confirm whether abnormal or cancerous cells are present and how far they extend. If cancer is confirmed, further staging is done through pelvic examination and imaging (MRI, CT, or PET scan as needed) to understand exactly how far the disease has spread before deciding on treatment.

Treatment Options: Matching the Approach to the Stage

Treatment for cervical cancer depends heavily on how early it’s caught, which is really the crux of everything discussed above.

For very early-stage disease, a cone biopsy or a simple hysterectomy may be all that’s needed, often preserving fertility in carefully selected younger patients. For early to locally advanced stages, a radical hysterectomy — removal of the uterus, cervix, and surrounding tissue along with pelvic lymph nodes — is frequently the standard of care, sometimes performed using minimally invasive or laparoscopic techniques that reduce recovery time and blood loss. For more locally advanced disease, a combination of radiation and chemotherapy (chemoradiation) is often the primary treatment instead of surgery.

This is precisely where surgical training and experience change outcomes. A radical hysterectomy is a technically demanding operation — the margins, the lymph node dissection, and the preservation of surrounding structures all require precision built through years of dedicated practice. My own training in surgical oncology at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, following my MS in General Surgery from AIIMS Delhi, along with further specialisation in advanced and minimally invasive complex surgical techniques in France and South Korea, is the foundation I bring to every cervical cancer case I operate on in Varanasi. My goal is always to give patients from this region access to the same surgical standards available at India’s leading cancer centres, without the added burden of travelling to Delhi or Mumbai during an already difficult time.

A Note for Families in Purvanchal

Cervical cancer conversations in this region are often complicated by hesitation — women delaying a gynaecological visit out of embarrassment, families treating symptoms as a private matter not worth “bothering the doctor” about, or simply not knowing that a preventive test exists. I say this gently but firmly to every family I meet: a Pap smear takes a few minutes and causes minimal discomfort. Untreated cervical cancer costs far more — in every sense of the word — than the mild awkwardness of a screening visit.

Prevention: What You Can Do Starting Today

• Get a Pap smear or HPV test if you’re a woman above 21 and haven’t had one recently
• Vaccinate daughters against HPV between ages 9 and 14, ideally before their first exposure
• Don’t ignore bleeding between periods, after intercourse, or after menopause
• Avoid tobacco use, which increases cervical cancer risk
• Encourage the women in your family and community to prioritise screening, not just treatment

When to See a Cancer Surgeon

If you’ve had abnormal bleeding, an abnormal Pap smear, or a biopsy confirming cervical cancer, timely evaluation by a surgical oncologist can make a significant difference to your treatment options and outcome. Dr. Swapnil Patel, Cancer Surgeon in Varanasi, offers evaluation, diagnosis, and advanced surgical treatment for cervical cancer, bringing training from AIIMS Delhi, Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai, and international fellowships in advanced cancer surgery directly to patients across Varanasi and Purvanchal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is cervical cancer common in Varanasi and Purvanchal?

It’s one of the more frequently diagnosed cancers among women in this region, largely because regular screening isn’t yet a widespread habit. Most cases we see could have been caught far earlier with a simple Pap smear.

At what age should women start cervical cancer screening?

Generally around age 21 to 25, continuing at regular intervals as advised by your doctor, even without any symptoms.

Can cervical cancer be cured?

Yes, especially when detected early. Pre-cancerous changes and early-stage cervical cancer have excellent cure rates with appropriate treatment, which is exactly why screening matters so much.

Does the HPV vaccine really prevent cervical cancer?

It significantly reduces the risk by protecting against the HPV strains responsible for most cervical cancers, especially when given before exposure to the virus, typically in girls aged 9 to 14.

Where can I get cervical cancer screened and treated in Varanasi?

Dr. Swapnil Patel provides cervical cancer evaluation, diagnosis, and surgical treatment in Varanasi, backed by training from AIIMS Delhi, Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai, and international fellowships in advanced cancer surgery.

If you or someone in your family has noticed unusual bleeding or hasn’t been screened in a while, don’t wait for symptoms to worsen. Book a consultation with Dr. Swapnil Patel, Cancer Surgeon in Varanasi, today.